Waiting for Him
by SparkaDark
Summary: "Tony sighed inwardly, reaching the front doors of his home in the wee hours of the morning. There Em was, as always, camped out on the front steps, waiting. For him. She was a tiny little thing, thank God, so it was easy, as usual, to scoop her up in order to carry her up to bed. It was their little ritual, but it broke his heart every time."
1. The Sleeper

**Update: Thanks for continuing to check in on this one. The rest of the story structure is in place! Please be patient while I flesh it out. Quick backstory: She's his, but not Pepper's. A delightfully complicated little 11- year old surprise for Tony, post IM3. Pepper is an amazing mom. (But we always knew she would be!)**

**Reviews would help A LOT. I need motivation! Thanks in advance!**

**Disclaimer: Only the OC is mine. Everything else? You know who owns it.**

_Tony sighed inwardly, reaching the front doors of his home in the wee hours of the morning. There Em was, as always, camped out on the front steps, waiting. For him. She was a tiny little thing, thank God, so it was easy, as usual, to scoop her up in order to carry her up to bed. It was their little ritual, but it broke his heart every time._

She'd been doing it since she was eleven.

After the clamor and confusion of her surprise arrival had simmered down, Tony's life had gone predictably unpredictable again, and, grudgingly, he had to go on a mission. Emilia did not fare well during his absence. Point of fact, she was a nervous wreck. For her, change was uncomfortable, but _fear of impending change_ was excruciating. It took a while to get to the root of the problem: She didn't know whether Tony would come back. Of course he did return, and when a sleepless, stressed Pepper explained the night she'd had, trying to keep Em calm, Tony brought in a specialist. He advised that since consistency made her more comfortable, they should devise a routine. Em would wait for Tony's return with a "mobile Jarvis" she could consult at any time to find out where he was and when she might expect him. It wasn't always accurate; fighting terrorists was notoriously unpredictable. In spite of this, they'd discovered Em had a spooky knack for knowing when Tony was on his flight home. To Pepper's surprise, Em would persist until she had gotten around security to go out and wait on the veranda for Tony's return, day or night. Sometimes she was awake when he got there during the daytime or early evening; sometimes she had been asleep for hours. Pepper was uncomfortable letting the child doze outside at night, so she tried enlisting Happy to carry her adopted daughter into the house. Em had woken up every time and refused to go to bed until Tony had brought her inside himself. She knew innately when it was her dad bringing her inside, too. Whether it was his familiar scent or the way he balanced her in his arms, when Tony was the one carrying her, she never woke.

She was 13 now, and still clutching her mobile Jarvis while she slept. Someone had covered her up… Likely one of Happy's guys. He nodded to the pair who stood just outside the doors, mumbled a few words of gratitude, then dismissed them for the evening. Looking down, he took a few moments to study her solemn, sleeping face. While awake, she was an awkward, gawky teenager who may or may not take offense to everything that came out of his mouth. He smiled at the memory of breakfast, several days ago, when he'd simply asked her, "Is that the shirt you're wearing today?" And a fit of hysterics had followed. He actually _liked_ the shirt, but she didn't give him the opportunity to say so. She'd just stomped up to her room to change.

Tony shook his head… _Girls are weird_.

Asleep, it was easier to imagine her as an infant. He would never forgive the now-dead Cara Lloyd who had stolen those baby years from him. He didn't know her weight and length at birth, had no idea when she'd learned to walk. Her first word was a mystery to him. Cara hadn't been nostalgic or sober enough to write any of it down. He had his suspicions that Em's difficulty with his absences was the psychiatric remnant of being left in her crib to cry while her mom was stoned or unconscious. But he couldn't think about that too long… It turned his stomach.

Tony deposited Em in her bed, pulling the ever-present red sneakers from her feet. He knew he'd catch hell if he didn't put them with the line of similarly red shoes she had in her closet. As long as he'd known her, she'd worn red Converse sneakers. Only the size ever changed. Tony Stark's little girl definitely had her share of idiosyncrasies. She shoe thing was cute, the refusal to change her room decor, while mildly irritating to Pepper, was tolerable, but the separation anxiety? That worried him. The Psychiatrist he'd hired told him she would grow out of it; it was a phase many kids went through after losing a parent… Even one as spectacularly neglectful as Cara. It was normal, he'd said.

Normal or not, nothing softened the blow of finding his Emmy, waiting for him at the door like a dog anxiously awaits the return of its owner. Somehow, he had to prove to her she needn't be afraid. It was just a question of figuring out how.


	2. R & D

Tony, ever the pragmatist, chose to approach Em's difficulties the way he approached every problem: with research. His first move would be to surreptitiously observe her in her "native habitat," a.k.a. Fisher School for Girls. Had it been any other situation, getting onto campus would have taken nothing more than a 2 minute phone call. You'd be surprised how quickly he was met by the school's administration when He and Pepper had first visited to see if the school would work for Em. He was pretty sure they had drawn up plans for the "Stark Science and Technology Wing" to be ready, were he ever inclined make a donation. But he wasn't visiting publicly to drop off a heart-stoppingly sizable tuition check. He needed a way to be on campus, but not be seen… Especially by Em. It was an all-girls school, so going all 21 Jump Street and trying to pose as a student wouldn't really work.

Tony pulled up one pant leg and considered… _I do have the legs for the uniform, but I'm pretty sure the facial hair would give it away._

He needed to observe her, but it had to be more… covert. He wondered how badly the press would eviscerate him, were he caught putting up tiny cameras in a building full of underage women in schoolgirl uniforms. _Yikes. Scrap option two._

He considered what kind of information he really needed in order to help Em work through her fears. Maybe he didn't necessarily have to watch her...

_Watch_. Tony looked at his wrist and smiled. _Now we're talking_.

Tony was at the Stark Industries building and in Pepper's office an hour after his epiphany. He needed to enlist Pepper in this quest. She had better taste than him.

"I need you to get me a woman's watch, " said Tony upon entering his wife's enormous penthouse office suite.

Pepper cocked an eyebrow at her agitated husband, then went back to skimming the contract she was presenting that afternoon. "I'm kind of busy here, dear. Can we talk about experimenting with cross-dressing later?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "_For Emilia_. I want to get a nice watch for _Emilia_ to wear. Not for me."

"Emmy has a nice watch." Pepper replied. "Last Christmas, remember? We agreed it would be more practical than Custom Mega-Rabbit, Mark 2."

"First of all, she would have loved that rabbit," Tony argued. "Second, I need a watch that I can modify with some special aftermarket upgrades."

Pepper was intrigued. "What kinds of upgrades?"

"Vitals monitoring and a listening device."

"YOU WANT TO SPY ON OUR DAUGHTER?" Pepper yelled in shock. She quickly pulled herself together and lowered her voice. "You are _not_ going to _eavesdrop_ on Emmy. She'd never forgive you."

"What if I told you it's for her own good?" Tony asked.

"How can violating Em's privacy possibly be good for her? For _US_? You can't break her trust like that!"

Tony sat heavily into one of the leather wingback chairs that graced the CEO's office. "I know how bad this sounds, but I think I can help with the anxiety, Pep. She can't live with this…this… pervasive uncertainty much longer. She's a nervous wreck every time I have to go. With the data the watch is going to collect, we might have a chance to find her triggers and work through them. She's hurting, Pepper. I know I'm on very shaky ground here, _but I have to try._"

The grave look on his face spoke volumes. Deep down, Pepper knew Tony would never gamble his relationship with Em. She decided to at least hear him out. Leaving her desk and paperwork, Pepper crouched down in front of Tony's chair to make eye contact. She reached out to smooth the worry lines from Tony's forehead and whispered, "Tell me what you need."

In six hours, Tony had converted a small, platinum watch into a wrist-mounted marvel of innovation. He could keep an eye on Em and get all the data he needed, just by having her wear it. All throughout her day, it would keep constant track of her respirations, blood pressure, temperature, heart rate and muscle tone. If she was feeling the slightest amount of stress, the watch would pick up on it and relay the information back to JARVIS. In addition, the watch was programmed to record all the sounds around Em. He would know in a day or two what kinds of activities correlated to increased stress. Once he had that, he could work towards making Emilia's world feel more secure.


	3. Nothing to See Here

The next morning, Tony carefully arranged the watch in its velvet lined case. So far as he could see, there was no visible evidence that a high-tech surveillance system was ensconced in the inner mechanisms. Understated and tasteful, the Audemars Piguet timepiece Pepper had recommended made a perfect disguise for the device. Tony closed and picked up the case, left his workshop and took the stairs two at a time up to the main floor of the house. He had just enough time to stop Em before her driver ushered her into the car to go to school.

"Em! Wait up a second," Tony shouted as he reached the front door.

Emilia turned around, shading her eyes from the early morning sunshine. "Dad?"

"Just hold up. I have something for you." Tony tried handing her the case. Her arms were full of books, a light sweater, her phone and a last bit of toast from breakfast. Tony motioned for her to offload her things into the car.

"Dad, I'm going to be late. I have a test." Em complained.

"This won't take a second. Can I see your left wrist?"

Emilia wrinkled her brow in confusion, but held her arm out anyway. Tony was glad to see she wasn't wearing the watch from Christmas.

_Okay… Moment of truth _

"Mom and I got you something." He opened the case and Em peered into it.

"It's really nice, but I already have a watch." She said, admiring the diamond-set face.

"Well, now you have two. You can wear this one every day. The Christmas one is more for dressy occasions, anyway. You can wear this one to school." Tony wondered if he was overselling it a bit.

_Relax, man. She's going to sense something's up._

"Oh. Okay." Em allowed Tony to fasten the watch to her wrist. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love it. Thanks." He'd even earned a smile and a hug from her before she ducked into the back of the Bentley.

"Have a good day, sweetie." Tony backed away as the driver closed the back door and made his way around to the front seat. Keeping a neutral expression on his face until the car had left the drive, Tony waved and made himself walk casually back to the house.

_Mission accomplished. Let's see what this thing can do._

Tony quickly returned to his workshop, somewhat surprised to find Pepper already there, concentration focused on the live vitals feed Jarvis was relaying onto the center display.

"I still can't believe you talked me into this. What if it doesn't tell us anything? She'll be furious we invaded her privacy for nothing. What was her reaction when you told her what it was for?"

Tony fidgeted with a few settings."Yeah, about that… She doesn't know. As far as she's concerned, she just got a really nice watch."

"She doesn't know?!" Pepper, exasperated, made Tony face her. "Why doesn't she know?!"

"Um, because of the scientific method."

"The scientific method…"

"Telling her would introduce a new variable and skew results. We need to see her as if nothing new has happened. Would you act completely normally if you knew your dad was listening in on your school day?"

Pepper shook her head. "You're explaining it to her if she figures it out. Let me know when you find something." Pepper kissed him. "I'm leaving for work. I'll be home a bit late, so you two are on your own for dinner."

"Not a problem. See you tonight." Tony waved as she left the workshop, smiling at her until she was upstairs and out of sight. "Aaaaand… She's gone. Jarvis, pull up plans for mini-gauntlet. We only have a few hours."

"Right away, sir."

_15 miles away from the compound, data from Em's wrist monitor began silently compiling._


	4. Were You Going to Eat That?

**Because I can't help tweaking my work after the fact, this chapter has had a few small changes. I wanted to expand on the kind of conversation that could happen between Stark the Elder and Stark the Younger. Another chapter (a small one, but it had to happen) is on the way. Patience, please. As usual, I own nothing but the OC. Good thing she's fun... **

Putting the finishing touches on his newest masterpiece, Tony actively ignored the blatant agitation he heard in Jarvis' voice.

"Sir, I have to protest. Miss Emilia may not be physically or maturationally ready to test a weapon this potent. I fear her safety may be at risk."

"Jarvis, I was building combat-ready prototypes at half her age." Tony argued, eyes focused on a ⅗ scale model of his own gauntlet. While he could build a repulsor for his own use in his sleep, the smaller version meant to fit his tiny teenage daughter gave little room for the equipment he typically used. He found himself fabricating just as many tools as components that day to account for the diminished size.

"Sir, that would have made you 6 ½. I hardly think…" Jarvis was interrupted by someone's arrival upstairs. "Miss Stark has returned, sir. Shall I tell her to run, or are you intent on going through with this madness?"

Tony flipped an access panel closed, secured it, and took off the magnifying glasses. "Perfect timing. Send her down."

"If you insist, sir."

Upstairs, Em was rummaging through the fridge looking for an after school snack. Just as she selected an apple from the crisper, Jarvis chimed in above her head. "Welcome home, Miss. Your father would like to see you in his workshop."

Em sighed, took a bite of the apple, and mumbled, mouth full, "On my way."

"Are you wearing anything particularly combustible, Miss Emilia?" Jarvis asked, voice following her as she made her way to the stairs.

"_Particularly combustible_?" Em looked at her dorky uniform. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'I'm not sure." She continued to talk to Jarvis as she descended the stairs. "Do I want it to go up in flames? _Uh, Yeah._ While I'm wearing it? Probably not."

"Noted."

Em held the apple between her teeth, grabbed the handle of the door with one hand, and put her access code into the pad next to the door to the workshop/garage. The door opened with a hydraulic hiss. She dropped the apple into her right hand and started with the typical workshop banter she shared with her dad:

"I thought I was grounded from the garage! Have you forgiven me for the unfortunate plasma cutter incident so soon?" She teased, chewing.

Tony smiled. _She's still wearing the watch_. "Collateral damage of raising a Stark." Tony deflected. "You're right handed, right? God, I hope you're right handed, because otherwise this is going to get way more interesting than I typically like."

Em chuckled. "Oh, ye of little faith! Yeah, right handed. Why?"

"Well… I built you a little something. First, though, promise me you won't tell your mom."

Emilia countered, game show contestant-style: "Ding! What are seven words guaranteed to get me grounded for the weekend, Alex!"

Tony quirked an eyebrow and stepped to her side, revealing the small gauntlet he'd been working on all day.

"Ohhhh, we're BOTH gonna get grounded..." Em smiled as she got up close so she could see the details. She stopped, suddenly realizing... "Um, why is it _baby pink_?"

"Pink is bad?"

"Dad, I'm almost 14. Yeah, pink is bad."

"Well, this is just a prototype. You can go _Project Runway_ on the next one. Wanna try it?"

"So much."

Tony smiled, then tapped a few buttons on the central display. A large metal wall began to emerge from the floor near the rear of the shop. Em shot him a questioning glance.

"Blast wall. I like my cars whole, remember?" He replied.

"You're not letting that go, are you?" Em replied, sheepishly. He picked up the gauntlet.

"Nope. Let's see if this thing fits."

It took quite a few adjustments, but at long last the device was secured to Emilia's right arm. She was surprised at how light it was; the way her father clumped around in his suit, you'd think Iron Man was made of actual iron. The titanium was less cumbersome than it looked. Em turned the palm of the gauntlet towards her so she could get a better look at the repulsor. Tony took the gauntlet-covered arm and slowly turned the repulsor back towards the floor.

"We don't point the hot, lethal part at our faces, sweetie."

"Oh… Yeah, I can see how that could end badly." Em looked up eagerly at her father. "Can I blow something up now?"

"Blowing things up is 200 level. We need to start with Iron Man 101."

"Don't you mean Iron Girl? Oooh! _Iron Maiden_…"

Tony quickly cut her off. "The name's a work in progress. You still have that apple?"

Em saw her father's line of thinking and her eyes began to sparkle with anticipation. "Right there, on the workbench."

Tony took the partially nibbled fruit and balanced it on a small ledge that came out of the thick concrete slab in front of them. Pacing off 50 feet, Tony positioned Emmy so she had a direct shot at her after-school snack.

"Okay," Tony breathed, prompting Em to lift her right arm and point the palm of her hand toward the apple. "We're going to start out at a quarter of one percent power. I'm not ready to scrape you off the back wall just yet. Aim with your arm locked straight out…. Goood. Now feel the little button on the side of your index finger knuckle? Just tap it with your thumb."

"Just tap it?"

"Tap it."

A half-second later, the tiny repulsor in Em's gauntlet gave off the charging and firing noises Tony was so familiar with, only 2 octaves higher. Emmy was knocked backwards off her feet and landed hard on the concrete floor.

"OW!" She complained, then looked up, eyes dancing. "Did I hit it?"

Tony looked over at the blast wall. "That apple is SAUCE, baby! Nice shooting! How did it feel?"

Emmy stood and gingerly rubbed her tailbone, which had taken most of her impact. "Nothing hurt but my pride. Can I try again?"

Tony grinned. "We're going to need a lot more fruit."


	5. Why Is Everything So Sticky?

By sundown, the workshop looked like the aftermath of a real-life fruit ninja, and Em was in the shower attempting to pick fine strands of spaghetti squash out of her hair. Who knew they shredded when they exploded? Tony was downstairs, congratulating himself on a successful beta test when he heard Pepper arriving home, hours earlier than expected. Scrambling, he bolted upstairs, mindless of his juice and produce-spattered clothes.

"Hey, Pep! You're home early!" Pepper dropped her attache case and light wool coat on a nearby couch. "Everything all right? Something fall through with the contract?" Tony carefully steered her towards the chaise on the opposite side of the room from the workshop stairs, chancing a furtive glance in their direction. He hadn't thought to stash the small pink gauntlet, never mind clean up the mess. Pepper's powers of deduction, honed from years of dealing with Tony Stark, would figure out what had happened in less than a heartbeat.

"What happened to your shirt?" Pepper asked, now seated and starting to decompress.

"My shirt?" Tony thought fast. "Juicer went rogue. Maybe because I left the top off." Pepper smiled at this completely plausible explanation.

"Where's Emmy? Did she have any homework?"

"Uh… I'm not really sure. I didn't ask."

"Tony, you have to at least pretend that school is important. She's going to pick up on your bad habits. Did you guys eat?"

"Uhh, sort of?" Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Let's call something in. I'm starving."

45 minutes later, the family was quietly eating. Pepper, at the head of the table, was not blind to the snickers and significant looks shared between her husband and daughter. She didn't even bother to ask about the fragment of apple seed she found in Em's still-wet hair. She'd learned in the last three years that sometimes you just had to let Starks be Starks. What she was happy about, sitting there with her little family, was that Emmy's usual stressed demeanor had relaxed, due to whatever had gone on in the workshop. She wondered about the watch, still on Em's wrist, still compiling data. If she ever wanted to know what happened downstairs, she could just access the audio… But she thought better of it. Let them have a secret or two from her. The psychologists said it would help them bond. The stress experiment was still running, though, and that she _did_ need to know about. She decided to ask after dinner, while Em got caught up on whatever homework she neglected that afternoon. She got up to grab a bottle of wine from the fridge. She saw the now-empty crisper, rolled her eyes, and decided to play dumb.

"What happened to all the fruit… AND the vegetables!?"

From the dining room, Pepper heard Em and Tony collapse in laughter… and smiled.

Later that night, Pepper was finishing up her nighttime rituals, working the rest of her lotion into her hands and arms. She ran a brush through her hair, then decided to stop in and see that Emmy had finished her homework. She knocked on Em's door softly, then opened the door slightly. "Okay if I come in?"

Em didn't even look up. "Sure, mom. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. Homework finished?" Pepper was searching for a way to open. She stood behind Emilia's chair and started mindlessly playing with her daughter's hair. Em reflexively cringed and tried shooing Pepper's hands away like flies. Pepper always forgot this particular idiosyncrasy of Em's. She detested having her hair fooled with. With a sigh, Pepper turned and wandered the rest of the room.

Triumphantly flipping her history book closed, Em relaxed. "Finished." She looked up, paused, and waited for her mom to continue. When Pepper just started aimlessly looking at the items strewn about the room, Em pressed: "Seriously, everything okay?"

"I - Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you're happy here."

Emilia started at the odd question. "Where else could I be? Cara's dead and as much as I'd love to, I'm still underage to live by myself." Pepper's expression fell a bit, and Em sensed that this was a callous answer. She tried to recover. "I mean, of course I'm happy. Dad loves me, you love me, I have everything I could possibly need. I'd be a horribly selfish person if I weren't happy." She hesitated, then asked, worried, "Are _you_ happy?"

Pepper had her daughter enveloped in her arms, squeezing, almost immediately. "Of COURSE I'm happy! You make your father and I very, very, happy. You are the best thing that has happened to us. Never doubt that. It's just…"

Em finished her sentence. "...the sleepwalking thing again?"

Pepper sighed, thankful it was out. "Yes, the sleepwalking thing. It's been three years and you still haven't grown out of it. It worries us. Is there something you're not telling us? Something you think might be hurtful, and don't want to say? I promise, I've lived through your father. I can take it."

"Mom… and I mean that when I say it. You. Are. My. Mother…. You and Dad are amazing parents." Em contemplated a second, then, smiling, "Okay, YOU are an amazing parent. Dad is sketchy at best, but his heart is in it." Pepper laughed. "I have wonderful, doting, protective, awesome parents. There is nothing that you're doing wrong. I have no idea why I end up on the porch when dad leaves. In my head, I'm perfectly secure in the knowledge that he will come back, but something deep inside still doubts, I guess. I have no idea how to fix it, and I don't expect you to, either." She hugged Pepper, then giggled. "Anyway, it's a surefire way to get me to visit once I move out. Send Dad out of town, and there I'll be!" Pepper rolled her eyes, as she was want to do with her two Starks, kissed Em on the forehead, and left her to her own bedtime routine. Tony was in bed by the time she returned, passed out from some manner of after-dinner exertion in the workshop. Realizing she wasn't going to get any information out of him that night, she left the watch data question for later and lightly brushed his lips with hers.

Settling down to sleep, she closed her eyes and sighed. His lips tasted like apples.


	6. Phase Two

**Nearly there, loyal followers. I could sure use some feedback whenever you have a minute. As usual, Em's mine. Everything else, not so much.**

By the next afternoon, Tony was deeply concerned. He'd gotten a peek at the information from Em's watch, and something was _definitely_ wrong at school. Pepper was home early, and she joined Tony in the workshop, finally able to talk to him about the data. He was deep in thought, a pair of large headphones on his head. He startled a little when Pepper brushed his shoulder, looking at his screen. He pulled the headphones off his ears.

"Hey. You're Home."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I couldn't stop thinking about this. I just decided to throw it in after my lunch meeting and come home. How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad." He altered a few settings on the program to show Pepper. "See these spikes here? Her heart rate and respiration go up, her muscles get all tense, she's feeling something there."

"So, what? Some mean girl thing? Is she getting teased or something?" Pepper drew up a rolling chair and sat, transfixed.

Tony shook his head in disgust. "Worse. This is her Chemistry class. Take a listen."

Pepper took the headset and listened in.

"Miss Stark! You might have some knowledge of this- Stark Industries is going to be your business eventually. What kinds of environmental impacts do you foresee from the widespread implementation of the arc reactor technology?" Tony paused the audio.

Pepper was confused. "That question stressed her out? She could answer that in her sleep."

"Mmm. Yeah. Listen to the next one." Tony skipped to the next high-stress point's audio.

"When you're in charge of Stark Industries, how do you expect to offset the employment opportunities taken away due to the phasing-out of coal and other fossil-fuel energy sources?"

Pepper's brow furrowed. "Next one?"

"Move it, Stark! Move it! Your daddy's not going to be around to protect you forever! Let's get some muscle on those bones! Move!"

Pepper yanked the headphones off in frustration. "Well that's just ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? Try abusive! Almost every teacher mentions either you or I in every class. Poor kid's got a complex because either A. I'm going to die any second because of Iron Man, or B. She's automatically held responsible for corporate decisions and policies WAY above her pay grade. Which is really saying something, since I don't remember you hiring her."

"I'm pulling her out of that school. Today." Pepper reached for her phone inside her bag.

Tony stopped her. "No, Pep, you're not. We can fix this." Tony soothed.

"Why would I want to continue with this school if they treat our daughter this way?"

Pepper was nearly in tears. She wanted somebody's blood, which was somewhat entertaining for Tony, since that person was usually him. Tony explained, "We go talk to the board, we talk to her teachers. Quietly, without her knowledge." Pepper moved to protest, but Tony interrupted. "No, listen... We let them know that we will be removing her from the school _unless_ this line of questioning and harassment stops, no exceptions."

"I'd rather just move her to that other school we looked at. Give her a fresh start." Pepper wiped her eyes.

"If it were any other kid, I'd say sure. She'd make new friends, her grades would transfer with no problem… But this is Emilia. Our beautiful, complex little enigma. The psychologist said consistency. Predictability. She's been at Fisher for three years now. How much stress do you think a change in school will cause?"

Pepper had been so focused on getting Em out of the toxic environment that she hadn't considered that.

"But that's actually phase 2 of my plan." Tony continued.

"Phase two?" Pepper asked, confused.

"I think there might be a little something else bothering her. I know you're going to be unhappy about this, but… I may have invaded her privacy a little more than just the watch."

"Oh, God, Tony. Please tell me there are no cameras up at Fisher."  
"Cameras? What? Never even crossed my mind." Pepper quirked an eyebrow, still skeptical. "No.. I raided her phone."

Pepper's hand went to her face. "Great. Do I even want to know?"

"She's worried about the suit."

"The suit? What about it?"

"Check this out." Tony tapped a few keys and a video popped up. "This was on her phone."

Someone had captured a spectacularly memorable evening, several years ago, when Tony had blown up every suit he owned, like fireworks. "She's watched this video, no exaggeration, over 100 times. If you were a teenage girl, stressed about losing a parent who flies around in one of those suits, what conclusion would _you_ draw?" Tony asked, watching the tape as intently as Pepper was.

Realization dawned on her. "She thinks your suit is rigged to blow. The current one. She's wondering what happens if there's a malfunction, or if someone figures out how to kill your suit with you inside it."

"Bingo."

Pepper was quiet a moment, processing this realization. Shaking her head, she turned to Tony. "Wait, so _what_ exactly is _Phase One_?"


	7. You Want Me to Do What Now?

**I swear we're getting close to the end now. Just a little inter-chapter until the last two get done. I would love some new reviews, if you have a minute. I own nothing but the OC.**

"Let me worry about Phase One for now. I've come up with an experiment to gauge her faith in the armor," Tony said, subtly moving Pepper from her seat in the workshop to the exit door. "If she really thinks I'm not safe as Iron Man, I'll know it by this afternoon."

"But what then, Tony? She's a little young to understand how the suit works. I don't even know how the suit works, and I've been inside it!" Pepper stopped in the small vestibule outside the workshop. Tony moved to pull the door closed, replying, "I'll think of something."

Pepper let out a frustrated sigh and went to her home office to try to catch up on the work she missed that afternoon.

Emilia couldn't wait to get home. She hoped that she could get a little more practice in with her custom-made mini-gauntlet before Mom got home. She was delighted to find out Pepper was indeed away, and found Tony in the shop. As the door opened with a hiss, she saw Tony was fully outfitted in the Iron Man suit. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence when he was trying out a new feature. She was disappointed to find him busy, but decided to say hello anyway.

"Dad?"

"Oh, good! You're home." Tony replied from the inside of the suit. "I need a hand."

Instincts honed over the last three years made Em slow her approach. Helping her Dad with the suit was just not done. Mom had helped him once when he still had the arc reactor imbedded in his chest, and Jarvis was always there to assist along with the bots, but Em herself had never been allowed to touch anything to do with Iron Man. There were still some things Tony deemed too dangerous for a nearly 14-year old to do, and fiddling with the Iron Man suits was one of them.

"Me? A hand with what?" She asked, skeptically.

"I need you to shoot me." Tony replied.

Em laughed. "No, really. What do you need?"

The visor of the suit went up. Tony seemed completely sincere. "Seriously, I need you to shoot me."

Alarm bells were sounding in Em's head. She did not like where this was going. She stopped in her tracks and dared the question… "Shoot you with what?"`

Tony nodded towards the bench where he had left her gauntlet out. "With that."

The hair on the back of Em's neck began to stand up and anxiety started creeping up her spine. She tried to cover. "I thought we don't aim the hot, lethal part at people?" She felt a light sheen of sweat start to form on her forehead. Her stomach began to churn a bit. She needed to get out of there.

"Emmy, it's okay. It's not going to hurt me."

Em continued to back towards the shop door. "I don't know if I can, Dad. I'm-"

"Stop right there." Tony quietly demanded. He ejected from the suit and walked to Em. He wrapped her in a hug and felt her trembling. He shushed and soothed his little girl. He had confirmation now. Never mind the nerve-wracking reminders at school that he had a dangerous job; Emilia had no faith in the armor… And Tony meant to fix that.


End file.
